All is Darke

Getting to the shadowguard outpost wasn't a problem. After all, when you've studied as many magical scrolls as Artemis had, of course you'd have a couple teleportation spells up your sleeves. Artemis was able to mass transport all of his friends at the doorsteps of the outpost after casting a spell on all of them to allow them to walk on clouds. Glaring up at the dark structure that loomed before them, Artemis gulped. His brother was somewhere in this...thing, and he had to figure out where he was. Swallowing down his fears, he faced resolutely at the doors. "Lets go."

Their entrance was, to say the least, hardly stealthy. Charger barrelled into the doors while Mishap threw up another poisonjoke fog, this time making it so that his friends could see in it. All around them, shadow guards perked their heads in surprise, and then outrage.

"Intruders! We're being attacked! Get them!" Swarms of shadowguards appeared from all angles and stampeded into the fog, where Artemis waited to serve out his vengeance.

Up in his room, Commander Silverfang began to hear the sounds of combat emerging from the main hall. "What in the world could possibly be happening? Are we being attacked?" He immediately shrugged off the thought. "Nopony would be crazy enough to assault us in our home territory, when the moon gives us our highest strength."

Suddenly, a messenger arrived. "Sir! We're being attacked! We don't know how many of them there are because one of them threw up a fog cover, but a lot of our men are getting injured!"

Silverfang was incredulous. "You're kidding me."

"I kid not, sir. We are being faced with a real threat here, and need your orders to take further action."

"Well, tie up the brigands and bring them to me! I want them bound and gagged at my feet before the dusknight comes!" Silverfang turns quickly back to the window, listening as the messenger leaves the room. Actually, he felt a little bit of respect for the ones assaulting his base. "At least they have some backbone, unlike the troops I have around here. Honestly! I get tired of their gambling and drinking for dusknights and darknights without end!" Shaking his head, a thought suddenly crossed his head. "What if my troops are so out of shape that they can't defeat them?" Suddenly worried now, he reached over to a magical PA system. "All troops currently on their sleep cycle: we are being attacked. All troops to the main hall to apprehend the aggressors." Sighing, he went over to his couch and sat down. "That should take care of this matter."

Down below, more squads of shadowguard piled into the hall, only to immediately dodges bursts of magic that were emerging from the cloud.

"Artemis! I'm running out of scrolls here!" Mishap struggled to keep up his fog cover while blasting a shadowguard away with a 'Freeze' spell. His pile had gone dangerously low as he took  the main job of casting spells, being in the middle of the group.

"Don't stop! We have to find my brother!" Artemis was swinging his sword with a superiority none of the shadowguards could compare to. Ponies fell left and right as his sword (enchanted with a spell so that all those who were cut by it were not physically harmed but sent into a deep sleep) swung deep into the advancing forces.

"Oh, please go away, Mr. Shadowguard. We really do have to find his brother; he important to us, you see. Sorry!" Flicker used an 'Aire' spell to blast a regiment of guards into a nearby wall. "I really am!"

"Don't apologize to them, Flicker! They're trying to kill us, remember!?" Autumn was doing fairly well; being the one watching Artemis as he enchanted the scrolls, she got the fulldown explanation of how to use them to their maximum efficiency. Seeing that Charger was about to be flanked, she unleashed a barrage of five fire scrolls that burned the shadowguards and forced them to retreat.

"Thanks." Charger had long run out of scrolls and proceeded to rely on brute strength, bucking his way through the guards easier than a hot knife cuts through butter. While the unicorn shadowguard tried to take him out, their spells bounced off and revealed a 'Shielde' spell that surrounded him, although it wouldn't last long.

"Can't do it anymore guys," Mishap panted under the strain of his spell. "The fogs going to drop!" Suddenly, the fog cover collapsed, revealing the attack force to be a mere five ponies. Now that they had clear view of their opponents, the shadowguard quickly had them surrounded.

"Drop the scrolls now." A commanding voice echoed from the end of the hallway. Commander Silverfang had come down to view the commotion, alarmed that it was taking so long for his troops to stop the attackers.

Artemis was eyeing shadowguards left and right, going over his options. It wasn't looking good. Transmitting his thoughts to Mishap with his magic, he asked "Do you have enough juice left for another spell?"

"What do you have in mind?" Mishap sounded tired, even in his thoughts. The strain of using the scrolls while keeping up the fog were starting to catch up with him.

"If we can do a mass teleportation, I think we should be able to get directly to my brother's prison cells."

"Do you even know where it is?" Mishap already sounded skeptical.

"Well, no. I'm kind of hoping that since we're brothers, there's a special bond that will allow me to find him. Or his general location."

"Well, alright then." Mishap cut off the connection and started gathering all that was left of his magic into his horn.

Commander Silverfang looked on with unease as none of the ponies dropped the scrolls. "I must have really lost a lot of my terrifying aura. Must be old age." Shuddering at the thought, he once again addressed the group of invaders standing in the middle of his main hall. "By the power vested in me by her imperial highness, Nightmare Moon, I order you five to drop the scrolls now or face severe consequences!" To emphasize this point, he gestured all of his shadowguards to take up arms. Armor clanged throughout the hall as the guards got into battle position, awaiting further orders. "Well?" Silverfang was intensely curious as to why they weren't dropping their scrolls. "They're clearly outnumbered. If they're thinking of fighting their way out of this, than they're bigger fools than I tho-" The words died in his head as the group suddenly vanished in a blast of magical power. Scorch marks remained on the floor where they had stood. "Blast! A teleportation spell!" Looking around the hall and seeing a lack of action, he yelled out. "Well, what are you waiting for? Start searching the outpost! They could still be on the grounds for all we know! Find them and bring them to me as soon as possible, or all of you will have your drink rations cut in half!" At the last threat, the mass of shadowguards surged out of the hall. In a job as boring as this, drink was the one entertainment they had left to them. They certainly weren't going to put it at risk.

Sighing, Commander Silverfang shook his head. "Incompetent fools, the lot of them! In the old days, these soldiers had more backbone to them. Perhaps I've been in this profession for too long." After surveying the mess in the entry hall and assessing the damage, he shrugged and started back up the stairs. "Ugh. I'll make them all clean it up in the morning."

Artemis and Mishap weren't able to transport everypony that far. In reality, it was all they could manage to simple move them all a floor down. In the dark depths of the outpost, Artemis could hardly see a thing. "Is everypony alright?" He spoke in hushed tones, unsure of how far he voice would carry in these dark halls.

"I think I'm fine." Flicker's voice came a little ways down the hallway to Artemis' left. "Mishap's looking a little bad though. I think he's done more magic than his body could handle for the day."

"Wait, how could you even see down here? It's pitch dark!" Artemis struggled to move, than realized he had been pinned down under something heavy. "What the hay? Who's on top of my face!"

"Oh, that's Charger. He seems out for the count for some reason." Autumn's voice appeared somewhere near Flicker. "Poor Mishap. It looks like he really put out all he had. Which is surprising, because usually he doesn't do anything but prank other ponies."

Artemis immediately recognized the smell of Charger's meditation candles on his coat. "Damn. To go all this way and be foiled by being stuck under Charger," he thought to himself. "I've got to find a way to get him off of me. Let's see..." As he tried to summon more magic, he felt sparks fizz off the top of his horn and then flicker out ineffectually. "Well, magic is out."

Suddenly, he could see again. The sudden exposure to light, however, blinded him again. "Argh. Thanks, whoever that was." Blinking his eyes furiously, he could make out a brief outline of...Autumn? "Autumn, was that you?"

"Yep. Just shoved him off of you. It was easy." Autumn shook her mane to emphasize how she hadn't even broken a sweat doing it.

"Oh. Thanks, I guess..." Artemis was shocked. He didn't know Autumn had that kind of strength inside of her. Charger WAS one heavy pony. "I've got to ask her about that later. Now that I think about it, I really don't know anything about her. Maybe we could talk over some scrolls back at my place!" He smiled as he thought to himself, suddenly looking forward to getting his brother out of here. He loved talking to anypony over scrolls. It was one of his most pleasurable activities. "Say, Autumn..."

"Hm?" Autumn noticed that Artemis had a sort of half giddy look on his face, which was peculiar considering the situation they were in. Although, it did make him look cute. "Oh, stop it, Autumn. Can you not be thinking about boys...or Artemis... every moment of the dusknight?" She scolded herself in her head.

"When all this is over..." Artemis seemed to hesitate now. What if she said no? His inexperience seemed to be crippling him again at this crucial moment.

"Yes...?" Autumn was curious now. "What could he be so nervous about? Maybe its just me, but is he even blushing a little there?" She thought.  She was tempted to stare more closely at him, but realized that this place was completely innappropriate for that kind of thing. Plus it would have been really noticeable to the rest of their friends.

Artemis sighed. He hadn't the nerve after all. "I'll just have to ask her later. I've got to concentrate on finding my brother."

Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. "Never mind. I'll ask you later." Looking down both ends of the hallway, he started thinking. "Now, which way should we go...Left? Or right?" Artemis was expecting on a soul link between him and his brother to lead the way, but it apparently wasn't working. "Come on, think: where would some shadowguards take my brother for capture?"

"Uhm... Artie?" Flicker sounded nervous all of a sudden, a hint of terror entering her voice.

"Yes, Flicker? What is it?" Artemis was too deep in thought to notice how her voice had subtly changed.

"You might want to turn around." She said this so softly, he almost couldn't hear her."

"Turn around? Why would I want to turn around?" Artemis turned face to face with a group of shadowguards. "Oh."

"Surrender your weapons now! You cannot defeat us. Resistance is futile." The shadowguards readied their weapons, from swords to crossbows to throwing knives.

"Sir, I think that unicorn is looking at us funny." 2nd Lieutenant Darkwing whispered into the ear of 1st Lieutenant Shadownight. "He might be setting up more antics."

"You there! With the blackish-blue mane!" Shadowmane bellowed at Artemis. "Stand down now, or we'll hurt that electric blue-maned friend of yours!" A couple of shadowguards redirected their weapons to aim at Charger.

Artemis glared at Shadownight. "Leave my friends alone. I'm the one you want."

Shadownight eyed this pony up and down. While looking bookish and not the sort of type to be the leader, he was the one taking charge of the situation. "Actually, we want all of you. You're all accomplices to the one fellow we've already captured, snooping around in the forbidden ruins! Guards, arrest them!" The squad of shadowguards flowed past Shadownight, inhibitor rings and weapons at hand ready to capture the friends.

"Stop!" The purple one yelled out. "We'll put down our weapons if we can have an audience with your leader." He had a brave face on, but his knees quivered at the sight of all those weapons pointed at him.

"Artie, what are you doing?" The berrypunch one sounded worried, the perfect victim to harass.

"You there! Not another word out of you!" Shadownight yelled at Flicker. "That's right, I'm talking to you in the berry punch coat. Stand down!" Turning his head to Artemis, he said, "Continue."

"Well," said Artemis. "We're actually personal agents of Nightmare Moon herself. The whole escapade at the ruins was a test to see how ready you were to capture criminals, and you failed! Not only have you only managed to capture one of our men, we practically had to walk into this base ourselves in order for you to capture us. Now, take us to your leader so that we can reprimand him!" His voiced assumed complete authority and veribility in what he was saying, making the 1st Liuetenant question himself for a moment.

"This all seems very fishy...but my orders were to take you up to Commander Silverfang, so take you up to him we shall." Gesturing to the guards, he said "Put them all in leg cuffs, inhibitor rings, and wing braces. We can't let them escape again."

The shadowguards moved forward to do his bidding. Artemis protested. "How dare you treat agents of Nightmare Moon in this fashion! You're going to be severly punished when I speak with your commanding officer!"

"Can it. If my commander can verify your legitimacy, I'll apologize." Shadownight smiled wolfishly. "Until then, you're our prisoners. To the command room!" He started walking down the hall, listening to the group of friends be mare/stallion handled the entire time. "That should take some spunk out of your voice." Allowing himself a smirk, he looked forward to seeing how the commander would deal with this bunch.

Commander Silverfang had been calmly sipping a glass of wine when Lieutenant Shadownight barged in. He spit his wine out at surprise, which unfortunately made contact with his very expensive Solar Era painting. "Damn! That was a family heirloom and priceless beyond measure!" He thought. Despairing, he desperately started wiping off the painting with a special cloth before glaring at the bothersome lieutenant. "Well? What is it you want?" Silverfang snapped at his officer. This night was not going well at all.

"We've captured the brigands like you said sir. They're claiming to be elite agents of Nightmare Moon doing a 'field test' for her Lunar majesty." Shadownight kept his face passive, but inside he was smiling with delight. "I can't wait until we throw these ones into the dungeons. Especially the berry punch one..." Unconsciously, he licked his lips in anticipation.

"F-Field test!?" Silverfang splutterred. "That's absurd! I've never heard of such a thing in my lifetime as an officer. Bring in these cretins, so that I can question them myself!" Furiously turning to face the window, he thought to himself. " 'Elite agents' indeed. Hah! No field test would have resulted in so much collateral damage. Still...this is her Lunar majesty we're talking about. What if they actually are her agents? Better handle this delicately." For the thousandth time that day, he wish he had chosen another occupation besides shadowguard.

"As you wish, Commander." Shadownight felt a flicker of dissapointment move across his face. "Just wait patiently. You'll get your chance yet," he thought to himself reassuredly.

"Ugh. Get your hooves off of me." Autumn had never been mare handled like this in her life. More than frightened, she felt indignant. "How dare you treat me in this fashion? Let me go!" Strugging against her leg cuffs, she was roughly pushed into the command room by a shadowguard.

"Move along, prisoner." Autumn couldn't exactly see the face beneath the armored helm, but she was sure it was smirking at her.

"Why, of all the ne- oof!" She couldn't complete her sentence as Mishap and Charger got shoved into her, knocking the air out of her lungs. "Those shadowguards are SO rude!"

Artemis and Flicker were the last ones to get shoved into the room. "Stop stalling, Mr. 'Secret Agent'. I'm sure Commander Silverfang will be able to recognize your credentials. If they exist." With a harsh laugh, the shadowguards locked them into the room, leaving them alone with the dark figure in the high-backed chair. A contingent of guards lined the plush room, presumably the Commander's personal guards.

For a while, the only sound that could be heard was the crackling of a fireplace in the background. Finally, the mysterious figure before them spoke. "Leave us. I wish to speak to these prisoners alone."

Silently, the shadowguards filed out of the room in an orderly fashion, marching past walls covered in priceless paintings and beautiful crystal clocks, their gears humming softly in the clear, lusterous casing.

Standing up, the figure eyed each one of them individually. "So. You're agents of Nightmare Moon, or so you've told my agents." After pacing in front of the line, he stopped in front of Charger. "You. Show me your credentials."

Charger made no movement, his body completely stock still and void of motion.

"Answer me, fool!" Commander Silverfang gave Charger a rough shove, and Charger collapsed to the floor with a thud.

"What the bugger?"

"He's unconcious." Artemis spoke out from the end of the line. "He was knocked out when we attempted that mass teleportation spell in the main hall." He was careful to keep his voice as empty of any emotions as he could so as not to betray his thoughts.

"Oh, really?" Silverfang walked back towards Artemis' end of the line. "So maybe you'll answer all my questions for me." Staring hard into Artemis' eyes, he said once more. "Show me your credentials." A menacing undertone could be detected, and Artemis suddenly felt that he made the wrong move. "Well?"

The silence persisted. Silverfang shook his head. "That was pretty gutsy. Trying to bluff your way out against the shadowguard. It didn't get you far, but that took courage. Or stupidity. Maybe a little of both." Going back to his seat, he poured another glass of wine into a crystal goblet, then set it aside on the dark oak table that shimmered as the firelight played across it's surface. "Now then. Back to square 1. Why are you here? You should have known it would be pointless to assault a shadowguard outpost, especially at night where our powers grow strongest." Flicking his eyes back and forth, he hoped to tease a response from one of the female ponies by frightening them into telling him. His eyes settled on the one with a berry punch coat. "You. Tell me what you know, or the purple one gets it." To emphasize his point, he pulled a crossbow out from under his desk and aimed it straight at Artemis. "Don't test me, lass. At this range, it might as well be point blank for a crossbow of this caliber. And I will not hesitate to shoot him if I don't get the answers I like." Cocking the crossbow, he sat there. "I"m waiting."

Flicker was trembling. "I-I don't know what you're talking about." She looked close to tears, and her voice was laden with anxiety.

"Not the answer I was looking for." Reaching for the trigger, Silverfang aimed straight for Artemis' heart when Autumn said "Wait! We're here to rescue a friend of ours. He's a grey pegasus with a reddish/grayish mane. We think he got caught by your guards earlier because they were looking for us." Autumn stared defiantly at Commander Silverfang. "That all you need to know, old guy?"

"Hmph. If you assume that, you must know why we're so intent on chasing you down. " Silverfang looked sourly at Autumn. By calling him old, she'd touched one of his sensitive nerves. "Pray, do tell how you were planning on rescuing your friend by assaulting us in our base, with a full moon out, and only five ponies!" He was now face to face with Autumn, eyes laced with disbelief, hardness and... was that pity?

Autumn looked to the floor. She couldn't handle staring at the Commander for so long. Amused, he let out a low laugh.

"I suspected this might be the reason why we were assaulted. Guards! Bring in prisoner 598 from prison cell B!" He called out towards the door.

Two shadowguards entered, carrying a battered, cut, bloody gray mass of feathers. One of the guards gave the mass a kick, and it moaned with a voice that was all too familiar to the group.

"No..." Artemis was shocked speechless. "NO!"